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- Proper nouns may begin with an upper-case letter, but this is not
a necessary condition. Furthermore, all nouns that begin with an
upper-case letter are not proper nouns, for example names for inhabitants
like Français, Africain, etc. or names for feast days like
Pâques, are
considered as common nouns (see for criteria below).
Furthermore, upper-case letters occur on the words which begin a sentence and
on emphazised words in titles or running text (l'Etat souverain).
Consequently, this criterion is not sufficient and not necessary.
If X begins with an upper-case letter, it may be a proper noun.
- Pierre /pos=n & type=prop
- Meunier /pos=n & type=prop
- Paris /pos=n & type=prop
- Coca-Cola /pos=n & type=prop
- GSI-Erli /pos=n & type=prop
- la France /pos=n & type=prop
- la Provence /pos=n & type=prop
- les Alpes /pos=n & type=prop
- le Rhin /pos=n & type=prop
- le Louvre /pos=n & type=prop
- la rue Mouffetard /pos=n & type=prop
but:
- les Français /pos=n & type=com
- Pâques /pos=n & type=com
- l'Etat souverain /pos=n & type=com
- Each noun that is incompatible with the definite
article if the noun is in the singular form, and if it occupies the
syntactical position of a subject without a specifying adjective,
without a complement and without a restrictive relative phrase is a proper noun.
In other words, proper nouns needs no other elements, like determiners,
to occupy non-terminal phrases. Proper nouns have this behavior in
common with pronouns, but proper nouns don't play the role of
substituts for a nominal phrase.
The opposite of this criterion is not true: each noun that
occupies a nominal phrase with a determiner is not a common noun
(example: les Alpes, see below).
Notice also that in certain cases, the morphological
unit le is part of the proper noun (example: Le Havre).
This criterion is sufficient but not necessary.
Given Det a determiner, NP a nominal phrase,
If NP(Det+X+notY) or NP(Det+notY+X) with
function:subject fails, X is a proper noun.
- *Le Pierre /pos=n & type=prop chante; but: Pierre /pos=n & type=prop chante;
Le petit Pierre /pos=n & type=prop chante; Le Pierre /pos=n & type=prop qui
est de bonne humeur chante
- Proper nouns are non descriptive nominals that denote single,
individual objects.
Remark: The common nouns like soleil, lune, terre,
voie lactée also denote single, individual objects
(for tests see below).
If proper nouns are in the plural form, they denote several individuals/ objects which
have the same name (tous les Martin de l'annuaire).
Given X a noun that is a candidate for a proper noun, and given a
descriptive nominal phrase NP, with both, X and the NP denoting the same object,
If the coordination under the same NP fails, X can be a proper noun.
Remark: this is not necessarily the case, if the common noun denotes a single object.
- *Le Paul /pos=n & type=prop et capitaine /pos=n & type=com de l'équipe a été expulsé
- *La ville de Paris /pos=n & type=prop et capitale /pos=n & type=com de la France
- *La société GSI-Erli /pos=n & type=prop et société /pos=n & type=com en ingénierie linguistique
- *La rue Mouffetard /pos=n & type=prop et rue /pos=n & type=com pittoresque
- *Le Louvre /pos=n & type=prop et musée /pos=n & type=com célèbre de Paris
- *Le Rhin /pos=n & type=prop et fleuve /pos=n & type=com mythique
- etc.
but:
- Le gardien de but /pos=n & type=com et capitaine /pos=n & type=com de l'équipe a été expulsé
- Cette grande métropole /pos=n & type=com et capitale /pos=n & type=com de la France ...
Given a descriptive nominal NP, and given X a noun that is a candidate for a proper
noun,
If the transformation of the apposition X into a relative phrase
fails, X is a proper noun.
- Le maire du village, Pierre, est respecté. /
*Le maire du village, qui est Pierre /pos=n & type=prop , est respecté.
- Cette rue pittoresque, la rue Mouffetard, est connue /
*Cette rue pittoresque, qui est la rue Mouffetard /pos=n & type=prop , est connue.
but:
- Le maire du village, à savoir Pierre /pos=n & type=prop , est respecté.
- Cett rue pittoresque, à savoir la rue Mouffetard /pos=n & type=prop , est
connue.
Given X a noun, If X cannot have predicative function, X is a proper noun.
- *Cette société est une société GSI-Erli /pos=n & type=prop .
- *Cet homme est un Paul /pos=n & type=prop .
- * Ce fleuve est un Rhin /pos=n & type=prop .
but:
- Cet animal est un lion /pos=n & type=com / = a les caractéristiques d'un lion
- Ce meuble est une chaise /pos=n & type=com / = a les caractéristiques d'une chaise
- Ce bâtiment est un H.L.M. /pos=n & type=com / = a les caractéristiques d'un H.L.M.
Given X a noun, If X is a vocative, X is a proper noun.
- Cher Maıtre /pos=n & type=prop
Proper nouns are from a semantic point of view "transparent", or
semantically not motivated. This means that no semantic structure
underlies them.
Nevertheless, proper nouns can be related to the
semantic network either by morphosemantic relations (example:
Paris - parisien), or via semantic features that they share with
common nouns (example: vodka: alcoholic drink, ...).
Proper nouns are also related to the semantic network through means of
predicates like s'appeler, porter le nom, se nommer.
These predicates can also be a common denominator for different proper
nouns that denote the same object.
Furthermore, the emergence of new proper nouns doesn't disorder the
semantic organization of the existing lexical units, neither the
paradigm of the proper nouns.
Remark: The following tests are not really applicable to common nouns that
denote single objects (example: soleil), to the names of the
weekdays
(example: lundi), to the names of feast days (example:
Pâques) and to the names for inhabitants (example: Français).
In contrast to proper nouns, these nouns have an underlying semantic or conceptual
structure (soleil versus lune, terre
versus ciel for example), they are
semantically motivated (example: lundi means jour de la lune).
Names for inhabitants are considered as common nouns because they predicate
a property, that is the membership of a certain group of people.
Furthermore, we can say that the weekdays and names of feast days and
public holidays are integrated into a conceptual system, that is the
calendar.
Given X and Y nouns,
If 'the synonym of X is Y', or 'the opposite of X is Y', etc., fails, X is a
proper noun.
- * Pierre /pos=n & type=prop is synonym of Paul/ ...
but:
- enfant /pos=n & type=com and gamin /pos=n & type=com and môme /pos=n & type=com are
synonyms
Given X, Y nouns,
If 'the X are a class of X1, X2, etc.' fails, X is a proper noun.
- *The Bourbons /pos=n & type=prop are a class of ...
but:
- The lions /pos=n & type=com are a class of lion A, lion B, etc.
Remark: For common nouns, the plural form denotes a range of elements
that belong to a given class, designated by the noun. The plural form of
proper nouns denotes several entities of the same name.
Proper nouns can be defined in extension by the enumeration of
semantic sub-classes to which they may belong.
|
type=prop |
| D e s c r i p t i o n | E x a m p l e s | | |
| first names | Pierre /type=prop | | |
| last names | Meunier /type=prop | | |
| names of regions | la Provence /type=prop | | |
| names of towns | Paris /type=prop | | |
| names of mountains | les Alpes /type=prop | | |
| names of rivers, oceans etc. | la Seine /type=prop ,la mer Rouge /type=prop | | |
| names of countries | la France /type=prop | | |
| names of islands | l' ıle d'Elbe /type=prop | | |
| names of planets | Mars /type=prop | | |
| names of companies, institutions | GSI-Erli /type=prop , la C.A.F. /type=prop | | |
| trademarks or product names | Coca-Cola /type=prop | | |
| names of organisations, parties | Les Verts /type=prop | | |
| names of fictive/mythological figures, epics | les Sirènes /type=prop
l' Iliade /type=prop | | |
| names of buildings | le Louvre /type=prop | | |
| names for historical events or military operations; regims | la Révolution
française /prop | | |
| names of streets | la rue Mouffetard /type=prop | | |
| titles used as vocatives | Maıtre /type=prop | | |
| abbreviations of currencies | FF /type=prop | | |
| capital letters | le A /type=prop | | |
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